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Thanks for Coming To Our Fundraising Dinner at 1760 Homestead Farm

Jul 5, 2023 | Blog, In The News

Thank you to everyone who helped make our amazing farm-to-plate fundraising dinner at 1760 Homestead Farm a success! Honestly, this was one for the books… so many attendees are already asking how to get their tickets for the next dinner! 

Slow Food East End welcomed guests to an intimate dinner for 40 diners at 1760 Homestead Farm in Riverhead. This event raised money to fund our Edible School Garden programs. Thanks to the Kaiser family at 1760 Farms, Chris Kelly of Promised Land Apiaries, Doublespeak Cocktail mixologist Joe Coleman and Long Island Wine Country for helping to make our honey-themed menu a beautiful star-lit, and delicious night at the farm.

We ate, we drank, we talked, we laughed, and we learned. And, so importantly, we raised money for our Edible School Gardens. 

Each year we offer $10,000 in grants to local schools so they can buy deer fencing, water systems, fruit trees, rain barrels, etc. for individual school gardens throughout the East End. Funds raised from this evening will go directly into growing these grants. 🌱

A huge thank you to 1760 Homestead Farm for hosting us and to Farmer and Chef Lary Kaiser for the delicious food from the first bite to the last. The creative menu used ingredients straight from the farm. This is what farm-to-plate is all about. And that grape pie tho… 🍇

Chris Kelly, master beekeeper extraordinaire at Promise Land Apiaries gave an informative talk about the bees and their valuable role in our ecosystem. Chris is always both entertaining and knowledgeable. We took a hayride into the fields and he taught us how to maintain the hives on the farm that produced the sweet honey that was the main ingredient in our dinner. 🍯

Joe Coleman at Doublespeak Craft Cocktails deserves a huge thank you for shaking up the most delicious spirit-free drinks. Their mocktails were so incredibly creative; the recipes for Honey I’m Home and Golden Hour were crafted with local ingredients including infusions of Mattituck mushrooms and 1760 honey, of course. These two signature drinks made with gin and whiskey alternatives proved a delicious alternative to their spirited counterparts.🍹

Last but not least a big shout out to the Long Island Wine Country for pairing our dinner with an amazing selection of local wines. As they continue to celebrate their 50th year here on their East End, we are proud and grateful for the continued partnership 🍷

It never ceases to amaze us when our community comes together and we have an opportunity to slow down and share what we love to do. So many different people, so many like minds, and so many amazing east enders… we love you all.

If you would like to make a donation towards our local school garden program please click the button below. No amount is too small and 💯 of donations go directly to our Feed the Forks initiatives on the East End.

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Working together to keep our beaches clean!

Jun 6, 2023 | Blog, In The News

Slow Food East End is proud to sponsor a beach clean-up station in collaboration with Relic at 67 Steps Beach in Greenport.

Relic, established in 2016 by Westhampton brothers Aiden and Alex Kravitz, is a remarkable initiative dedicated to safeguarding our oceans. Among their numerous projects, one notable endeavor involves installing beach clean-up stations throughout Long Island. By partnering with local towns and communities, they facilitate voluntary trash collection efforts. With an impressive tally of approx 80 actively maintained clean-up stations across Long Island, they actively engage beachgoers in preserving our invaluable local resource—our beautiful beaches.

Furthermore, Relic is committed to preserving and restoring our marine ecosystems. They harness their artistic talents to design unique shirts that embody a global sustainability mission. For every shirt sold, Relic plants 5 oyster seeds. To date, they have contributed to planting over 15,000 oyster seeds in our local waters. It’s worth noting that a single oyster can filter approximately 50 gallons of water per day. With a target of filtering 1,000,000 gallons of water daily, Relic is tirelessly working towards a cleaner environment.

Next time you find yourself at one of our beautiful beaches dotting the East End be sure to check out their bright yellow baskets at the beach clean-up station! The baskets, similar to the handled ones you see in grocery stores, are easy to take along on beach walks. When you return you can empty its contents into a nearby trash can. Each station also features a QR code, where users can report what they’ve found or notify the team if maintenance is needed. To find a station near you, visit relic-sustainability.org.

We are excited and proud to be a part of keeping this initiative thriving and the incredible benefits it will bring forth to the East End and beyond.

Thank you to all our supporters, members and donors that participate in all of our fundraising efforts. Each time you buy a ticket to one of our events, make a donation,or spread the word about our efforts, it allows us to continue to do more. Together we can continue our support programs like these all around the East End and make a difference in our local community. 

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Thanks for Celebrating Earth Day With Us!

May 1, 2023 | Blog, In The News, Past Events

THANK YOU! Over 300 folks turned out to celebrate Earth Day at Saint Joseph Villa, a retreat and renewal center shared by The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Brentwood along the shore of the Shinnecock Bay, the Villa is also home to the Ecological Culture Initiative and the Shinnecock Kelp Farmers.

On April 22nd, we celebrated with a heartwarming day.  Our community came together and we listened, spoke, and learned from each other.  All enjoyed shopping from amazing local vendors, eating incredible food from local chefs and bakers, and sipping delicious wines. We smiled and we laughed. We thanked Mother Earth for everything and it was an excellent chance to connect with eco-activists,  local farmers, growers, artists, and artisans, to be introduced to a new plant-based publication and we even had an independent local bookseller with gardening books and much more.

We are thankful to the Long Island Wine Country Wines who this year are celebrating 50 years of winemaking on the East End. Wines were donated by As If Wines, Chronicle Wines, Lieb Cellars, Macari Vineyards, Pellegrini Vineyards, Rose Hill Winery, SuhRu Wines, Sparkling Pointe Vineyards & Wolffer Estate Vineyard.

We took the occasion to announce the first recipients of the SFEE 2023 Snail of Approval Awards which were presented to Ecological Culture Initiative (ECI) and Quail Hill Farm. Quail Hill was established in 1990 on land donated to The Peconic Land Trust, also celebrating 40 years of preservation this year. Destined to be trailblazers, Quail Hill became one of the first Community Supported Agriculture farms in the USA and the farm now raises produce and eggs to share with over 250 families from their 35 acres. ECI is much smaller but equally fruitful, it is a community garden of volunteer growers who tend 22 raised beds, and all produce is donated to St. Rosalie’s Food Pantry. ECI has also developed a community compost program that has become a template for other communities to replicate. Bravo to these agricultural doers and leaders!

Earth Day is as a reminder to be thankful for Earth’s natural resources and for all who work hard to protect our natural resources for future generations. Next year we plan to grow and have even more fun together.  In the meantime, save the date for next year: Sunday, April 21, 2024, and enjoy these pictures from our event!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

Americart and Please B Seated party rental helped make our event possible.

Flour Power’s Bakers Gathering Recap at Main Road Biscuit Co.

Mar 3, 2023 | Blog, In The News, Past Events

Bakers like to rise to the occasion to meet. It was extraordinary to have bakers come together to celebrate. After nearly two years of Flour Power, our community came together in a fabulous way. The energy in the room as new bakers met experienced bakers was electric. Questions were answered and coveted tips were shared. The addition of amazing food from Main Road Biscuit Company and wine from Lieb cellars made for a special evening.
 
 
Nancy and Ralph Reinertsen, our treasured bread delivery team were thrilled to finally meet many of the bakers in person and we were so happy to put faces to names. Ralph (who serves on the board of SFEE) was grateful to the previously unknown baker who sometimes leaves him ‘thank you muffins’ for making that long drive to pick up and deliver all the yummy bread. We just love our community of bakers!
 
 
So many helpful tips were shared. We learned simple ways to achieve that sometimes tricky second rise. Who knew there were so many ingenious ways to create a warm environment for the rise? Sharing our stories and expertise was just as important as making connections and new friends.
 
 
Thank you Marissa Drago of Main Road Biscuit Co. for opening up your beautiful space for our gathering and being a baker in the program! As always, the outpouring of support from our community is humbling.
 
If you weren’t able to attend this one, don’t fret, we plan to host more of these in the future. You do NOT need to be an experienced baker to join us.
Everyone loves the bread (yes, we sample a lot at these events). We are always looking for more bakers, so come and bring your friends. Anyone can ALWAYS sign up to be a baker for Flour Power! Please don’t let the fact that you have a busy life stop you from signing up. Just head to our website to learn more about how the program works.
 
The next baking cycle is February 27th, so there’s still plenty of time! If you or someone you know wants to sign up share this recap with them. Once they sign up, we’ll send an email with the baking video, and the drop-off procedure, and get you started in no time.
Click below to sign up and bake for any of the food pantries in our Flour Power Program. We can always use your helping hands! Join our Facebook group so that you can connect with other bakers in the community.
 
Stay tuned for what’s to come in 2023. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social to stay updated on all our activities. In the meantime, enjoy these photos from the event!
 
 
SIGN UP TO BE A BAKER

Bakers Workshop at CAST

Jan 31, 2023 | Blog, Flour Power, Past Events

Thank you to everyone who came to our Flour Power Baker’s Workshop at CAST! We had so much fun chatting with you all. The outpouring of support for our community is humbling. And, oh, all the loaves of bread we will donate! Grateful to everyone who came out to learn more about Slow Food East End’s Flour Power program… now, let’s get baking!

If you missed our event, don’t fret! Here are some important takeaways:

 

  • You do NOT need to be an experienced baker to sign up.
  • We will hold your hand throughout the process – we even give you a “hotline” number to call with questions.
  • Everyone loves the bread (yes, we ate a lot!).
  • We are always looking for more bakers.
  • While we hope you bake each cycle, we understand life gets in the way. So you can bake when you can and don’t worry about it when you have to skip a few weeks.

You can ALWAYS sign up to be a baker for Flour Power! Please don’t let the fact that you have a busy life stop you from signing up. The next baking cycle is February 13th, 2023, so there’s still plenty of time!

Once you sign up we’ll send you an email with a baking video, and drop-off procedure, and get you started in no time. We even have a Facebook group so that you can connect with other bakers in the community. Click below to sign-up and bake for any of the food pantries in our Flour Power Program. We can always use your helping hands! 

SIGN UP TO BE A BAKER

FLOUR POWER is expanding to include CAST North Fork in Southold

Dec 12, 2022 | Blog, Flour Power, Past Events, Uncategorized

We are so excited to announce that FLOUR POWER is expanding to include CAST North Fork in Southold

Become A Member of This Amazing Baking Community
Flour Power is a Slow Food East End initiative and a way members of the community can provide home-baked loaves of bread to local food pantries. Our goal is to nourish and bring joy to people through a personal touch with hearty home-baked love. These loaves are incredibly appreciated by the recipients, so much so that the need for new bakers keeps growing and growing. The baking cycles take place every 2 weeks and each cycle provides loaves baked by the community. 
 
Since our launch in 2021, we have been providing to the North Fork Spanish Apostolate in Riverhead. We are so excited to be growing and adding CAST North Fork as a second food pantry for our bread program. 
 
How It All Started
Our chair, Pennie Schwartz, wanted to include more of the community in our work: the result was our Feed the Forks initiative, Flour Power – It’s the yeast we can do (yes we like our puns here at SFEE)
 
 
“Nothing smells and tastes like love quite like a home-baked bread,” says Pennie, “and it’s a great way to actively involve our members to create the smell, feel, and taste of bread, which nourishes the body and soul.”
 
How Does Flour Power Work?
Anyone can register to bake. Simply sign up and Slow Food East End will send you the recipe designed for 4 loaves; each baker keeps one loaf and donates three. Baking dates and all of the necessary details are listed on the Slow Food East End website and you will receive reminders for each baking cycle via email. There will be a designated drop-off point at the CAST building in Southold (when you register you will receive detailed instructions for the drop-off procedure). 
 
We hope you’ll sign up and participate in as many baking cycles as you can. We understand how busy everyone is and all we ask is to bake when you can, so please don’t let that stop you from signing up. 
 
Sign up here… we need you!
We are coming together to bake delicious and nutritious loaves for those who are in need. We invite you to join us and bake bread with us.
 
This program can only continue with the helping hands of our community. Why not give it a try? Also, if you have friends or contacts that might be interested please forward this information to them. Imagine a network of people showing care and connection through food. That is truly Slow Food!!
I'd like to bake for CAST North Fork